Empire
by Maybenotahufflepuff
Summary: As the first of the young Azkaban inmates are being released, Hermione decides to try and build a bridge by having a conversation with Theodore Nott. This ends up being the first step on a path towards building an empire. Not sure of pairings yet.
1. Chapter 1

2002

She bit her lip as she looked at the hunched human being at the bar.

In the shadows his short messy hair looks black but she knew it was a dark chestnut and that when she knew him it was beautiful curls that she envied-greatly most of fourth year. She had noticed him a couple hours before when she had taken a break from her dissertation notes. Mind full of magical reagents and temperature calculations she didn't notice him until her way back to her scroll and book covered table. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flicker of light green then a head go down and it wasn't until she was seated and had a quill in her hand editing another page that she realized who it was, Theodore Nott was sitting at the bar.

Perhaps she had been a bit caught up in her studies lately and had missed the parole hearing news in the papers, though that seemed unlikely. Someone would have mentioned it and certainly Harry would have owled her about the first Death Eaters being released from Azkaban. Maybe not though, if he thought it wouldn't bother her at all, since they had privately agreed many of the younger ones had basically no choice but be marked or die. Die or watch someone else be tortured in addition to your own was barely a choice.

That was over two hours ago and she was finishing up this round of editing and more than ready for a meal. Not eating around the nearly complete scrolls led to hunger often now but it was better than the curry incident of nearly ten months ago. It had meant a rewrite and after only two months of work that took nearly two weeks. If it happened now there was no way to finish it on time. Registered Academic Scrolls were Tightly regulated and didn't allow for copying of any kind. Regardless of the scrolls properties now it was time to eat and she was certain not another moment could pass with someone she knew and in many ways admired as an academic rival in nearly statue like stillness, totally alone.

Gryffindor courage in her minds forefront she walked straight to the bar with her upgraded tote, the beaded bags successor, and sat beside the young man. Catching the bar tenders eye she smiled and pretended she hadn't a clue who she was sitting next to. As Tom walked towards her his eyes flicked to Nott and then back to her. She gave a small nod and he understood she knew who he was and the grin in response to her singled two and gesture towards the board indicating the dinner special made her lips twitch in response. Next he brought her a bottle of Bulgarian Firewhiskey he kept behind the bar that was already half empty and two glasses. She put a couple fingers of whiskey into each glass and pushed the cork back in the bottle opening. She could tell Nott was aware of her actions and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Oh no Nott, I will not obligingly pretend you aren't sitting here alone at the bar." Hermione had a small grin on her face at the slight pout on his lips and his extended blink time. Clearly he was weighing his response.

"Why would you want to talk to me Granger?" He still hadn't met her eyes.

"Not to many people can keep up with me Nott, if you want you can ask me what I've been doing and then we can have a fantastic discussion about my research dissertation." His eyes suddenly snapped to hers and there was to much going on in them for Hermione to clearly read the emotions.

Several of her hand stretching moments over the past hours had been spent thinking about how she could talk to him and then why she wanted to. Often she avoided others her own age, their words often left her rattled. Perhaps Harry was right when he told her that war made some feel things more deeply and others try not to feel. Raw was the best way to describe how she felt in the post war period. Which to her was still very much ongoing. Some patching had been done and much of the physical damage was finally finished or nearing its completion. Housing had been built and small communities established. Just this past September Hogwarts was declared reconstructed completely and only projects began after the war were still ongoing. Most of Diagon Alley was populated with shops now and a few changes were being made as people began to have children again, in numbers not seen since the 1930s. Regardless it seemed Wizarding Britain was coming back to life and that was a welcome change. However Hermione didn't feel that it was coming together. She felt a real line between people, where your role in the war decided the class of citizen you were. Those that had ties to Voldemort, those that were neutral or victims, and those that fought back. These lines were blurry but she had noticed in the past year the celebrities and gossip pages very quietly placing emphasis on this issue. Also important positions and titles were going to the new version of the powerful with little thought to the unity of magical Britain. The real history of magical Britain included families and tales from the very people whose power was being stripped away and their traditions dismantled. Blood supremacy was not right, neither was systematically destroying a culture in anger.

All of this had led to understanding her need to speak to Theodore Nott, they needn't be friends but could and should be associates. In a regular non magical life she would have relished the competition between them. They should have been able to argue and debate. Work together occasionally and really push the limits. She wanted the opportunities taken by blood prejudice back and the walls made by guilt and uncertainty torn down. Of course she could do little outside of her own interactions and so she was going to do this.

"Wanting to hear your thoughts on academia is not a new concept for me and I hope there was at least one time you wished you could have talked to me about something in school. I doubt Malfoy enjoyed debating minutia as much as you or I do." Hermione kept her time friendly but looked him in the eye as she spoke. He was a Slytherin, she has always thought of him as exhibiting the best and worst of the inevitable characteristics that made up his house. He was so inscrutable when he wanted to be that it made communication difficult and came across as superior and intimidating. On the other hand he was nuanced and spoke with meaning, understood the meanings of small inflections and word choice.

"There were books in there, it was a new thing for Azkaban. I was surprised but at the moment I am just grateful that we were allowed to take the written portion of the NEWTs. It gave me something to do but most importantly allowed me to think." It was he who was holding eye contact now and Hermione heard even tones even as she saw the flickers of less controlled emotion in the light green eyes meeting hers.

Hermione was uncertain what to say, how much he would want to speak of here or with her at all. Anything was okay with her, Sirius had times he wanted to talk and times she just didn't want him to be alone with his thoughts. Further from the few remaining dementors his exposure would have been less but single cells and spells preventing communication without permission were heavy burdens on their own. With relief she watching his reach for the glass and turn towards her a bit before he put his head down and started a conversation.

"So tell me what program you are taking before he subject of your dissertation. It could be anything you deemed interesting or worthy." She could tell he was interested and that the lack of eye contact was defensive, no matter.

"It started with Healers training after Hogwarts. Not many of our year could or did come back to school that September. It was just me and I had time so I interned with Madam Pomphrey and was ready for the Healer exams in August. I realized quickly that there wasn't enough time outside of rounds and patient care for in depth research and wouldn't be until I was a senior healer after eight years. You know this of course, but I didn't understand that it wouldn't be allowed in addition to the schedule barely permitting it. Anyways I completed one year of spell damage before I walked out. Then I looked into magical apprenticeships and realized the wars had left few great witches or wizards intact to teach or create in Britain." He was looking at her now and seemed genuinely interested and looked as if he wanted to break into her story several times. Tom arrived with the plates of food and Theo just looked at her until she made a go on gesture with her hand and waited for him to speak while she dug into her meal.

"No Head Girl Granger? McGonagall would have bent over backwards to give it to you." She was a bit surprised at his question until she looked up from the steak pie and noticed his small grin. She grinned back and related the conversation and restrictions that made it clear she couldn't be under such scrutiny or have such stringent restrictions on her.

"Why didn't you challenge the NEWTs on your own then?" This was more of a personal question for Hermione though maybe he didn't mean to probe into her private life. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she wanted to build bridges, to see how far she could explore a world without arbitrary lines of hate.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go, or that's what it felt like to me. I needed to go home and mine was not one without my parents. The Burrow was not my home either. Hogwarts was the only one opened to me. So I went and was alone there instead. If you didn't live with darkness how could you understand? Honestly Nott, most things seem unimportant to me, the everyday issues and petty whining most people do. I am different than I was, the books didn't expect anything and that was easier than the world who didn't understand me." She was the one looking down now. Helpless not to feel vulnerable in front of this person who was less than a stranger but more difficult to trust for exactly that reason.

Eventually she looked up and the emotion that raged in his eyes told her he understood much from her few words. There would be no judgement from him, her quirks and issues that weren't dealt with. Short temper and isolationist habits would be clearly explainable to this person. A bridge. He was holding his fork tighter than he needed and there was a slight shake in his hand as he put his glass down that told her, this person is not alright either and could not pretend he was.

Why was he sitting with his back to the open bar then? She could only sit here like this because he was also here, Tom kept a close eye on his bar and she was forcing herself not to double check her wand holster hadn't mysteriously malfunctioned in the minutes since she checked on the way over here. This was stupid. She wouldn't have to explain why she wanted to move or make some banal excuse, maybe he wouldn't look at her like Harry did. With understanding but a clear wish she wouldn't feel the need to do this anymore.

"I'd rather sit in the booth." She was looking at him when he looked up at her and she saw his eyes flick to the empty corner booth on the wall away from the window that she had been sitting in before coming over. Understanding was in his eyes in an instant and he stood and grabbed his plate and glass.

"Lead the way." So Hermione walked to the booth that would enable them both to have their backs to the wall and easily view patrons and the window. Both assessed their surroundings after sitting and Theo held up the bottle questioningly. Her nod and question about the Charms NEWT started the conversation again and hours passed. They switched to tea at seven in the evening and shut the place down with Tom at eleven. Bridge built indeed Hermione thought as she smiled to herself and spun into blackness, still holding the papers they had made notes and diagrams on.


	2. Chapter 2

"Amanda!"

Hermione had no choice but to call out if she didn't want the girl to enter the apothecary before she could speak to her. It looked as if she was selling rather than buying by the basket on one of her arms and the lumpy sack held in the other.

The cloaked figure froze and then started to turn around before it suddenly ducked right into a little alley between the apothecary and the quidditch shop. Quickly Hermione wandlessly disillusioned herself and took off after the girl she now knew was under that cloak. It was the tendril of dark chestnut hair with its kinky jagged curls that caught her eye. Luckily she spotted it and took the chance.

It had been three weeks and she was ready to go around Theo and get Harry to open a missing persons case. Amanda Selwyn had been released and immediately disappeared into muggle London. Hermione and Theo had been looking and eventually they had managed to get a hold of a piece of the girls hair, that had been ridiculous on its own. Then they had begun tracking and scrying for her. Hermione liked her immediately just because of her ability to cloak herself and the creativity of her acquiring a wand and what must be a decent place to hide.

Now she felt exasperated as running was not her favourite activity. Four months of the gym or an athletic activity three times a week with Theo was not enough to be giving chase to a fleet footed young woman with fear driving her.

A wrist flick brought her wand into her hand and she raced around the next corner and quickly fired a body bind followed by a cushioning charm and a levitation charm.

The girls eyes were huge and Hermione hoped she didn't know who was chasing her, it would be very uncomfortable to have someone run from her personally like that. It didn't take very long for her to be recognized and some of the blatant panic to clear from Amanda's eyes.

"Amanda, it's me, Hermione Granger. Theo and I have been looking for you since your release. It's okay. Sorry. I'll let you go now. Please don't run." With that she released the body bind and stepped a pace back.

With the cloak still confining her hair and her eyes flickering she looked like a hunted rabbit. Hermione just waited to see what she would do, if she wouldn't come then Hermione would have to stun her and she didn't want to.

"Theo will come to see you as soon as I send a patronus. Here probably isn't best, the papers love us you know. So how about we go to my house and from there Theo will no doubt already know you are there. We have been scrying and searching for you. He's been worried sick. There is a room for you, red Theo said you liked best." Hermione trailed off her nervous placating chatter as the girls eyes locked on Hermione instead of flicking around the surroundings.

"Theo" the woman said and held her hand to Hermione. With a relived breath Hermione reached out and clasped Amanda's cold hand in her warm one and she felt the other woman shiver. Slowly Hermione wrapped her arms around the older woman's waist and said quietly that they were going now. Her response was a jerky nod and what Hermione realized were tears falling onto her chest. Squeezing tighter Hermione spun on the spot and disappeared with soft crack.

Eyes still smarting from her emotions at the girls state Hermione steadied Amanda and felt the girl begin to sob harder. Slowly she led her to the sofa and pulled a blanket off the back. Fuzzy and Gryffindor crimson it made her seem even more pale and ghostlike.

Hermione moved to stand and go to another room to cast her patronus only to stop when the girls hand clasped her wrist. Hermione felt herself begin to cry at the look in Amanda's eyes. This young woman had seen and felt to much. More than she could handle and been running it seemed from her appearance. She had declined notification to anyone of her exact release date so they hadn't been able to be waiting for her.

Bitterly Theo had recounted how he wasn't able to help his cousin during the war. She had been married to Amar Carrow and he was every bit as bad as his siblings. Already graduated, she had no escape to school from the man her father sold her to and Theo was certain she had paid dearly.

For a while they sat together and eventually Hermione stopped crying, Amanda seemed unable to and didn't seem to want Theo yet. Finally Hermione understood that the girl felt dirty and wanted to be clean. Okay a shower it would be. She doubted a bath would make her feel as clean. This suggestion had Amanda rising from the sofa and holding onto Hermione until they made it to the first floor guest bathroom. A calming draught was eagerly accepted and when Hermione went to leave her alone Amanda quietly said one clear word.

"Stay" In the other woman's eyes she saw the overwhelm there in addition to rapidly cycling thoughts. A quiet nod and she helped her get undressed while the bathroom steamed up. Once she got in the shower Hermione sat cross legged on the toilet seat and began talking.

"If you want to talk about anything that's fine and if you are to done in right now then after the shower you can sleep. If you want to wait to see Theo until after you've slept that's fine too, I will speak to him while you are sleeping. He has been so worried about you. We weren't sure if you would know to come to him or really what you would do. More of you are getting out and we will need a better way of being there before you can escape from us. Regardless I want you to know that of the many things that bother Theo you are top of he list. He has been agonizing, in his own way, well you know. So concerned your spirit was broken, I told him not to be ridiculous, a hardcore girl like I remembered would not be broken by any man. Fierce and rapier quick is what I thought of you in the advanced charms club. Sometimes our power is taken from us and as a man Theo can't understand the fierce drive to get it back and more than that, keep it." What had begun as chatter to make Amanda comfortable had ended with a wrathful coldness to her voice and an emotionless mask on her face.

I'm a moment she realized how insensitive and personal that had been. Amanda was not a friend or someone she knew well. Before there was much time to begin to think how to backpedal and apologize for her presumption the girl gave a bark of bitter laughter.

"Granger, I don't know what is going on here and I don't understand how you know Theo so well or why you were helping him look for me. That said, never again. He will never touch anyone again. You can turn me in and send me back to Azkaban if you want. Maybe you could let Potter know they needn't keep looking for the third Carrow. They won't find him." Amanda's voice was clear and her tones the crisp dialect of a pureblood daughter. Hermione knew it was wrong to grin over a mans murder but she only felt as if the girl had taken her power back the only way she could. If there was chance your nightmare could touch you then you could never be free.

Bellatrix was dead at the hand of another and she had killed Greyback herself. The disgusting thing had told her he had smelled her and licked his fingers of her essence so he could always sniff her out. Then handed her over to the mad witch. Once she had regained consciousness and some strength she had begun planning Greybacks death in her head alongside the verbal plan to break into Gringotts. Nothing to be ashamed of in destroying the monster that haunts your dreams.

* * *

The silvery otter in front of her danced in the air as she spoke her message and then as it darted through the kitchen cabinet and out of sight she sagged against the counter. Considering tea originally she decided on the latest bottle of Bulgarian firewhiskey and moved to the kitchen island stools. These had been a good choice. They were Slytherin in style, so very comfortable and a bit ornate. A hand wave summoned a second glass when she heard the pop of Theo's apparition and it settled to the stone counter top as the swinging door to the kitchen banged open and Theo barged into the space.

"Theo she is here, be quiet.' What the hell was that? Where is she?" His voice was raised and she could tell he had been running his hands through his hair.

"Calm down Theo. If it wasn't fine I wouldn't have been so flippant, you know that. She has showered and is sleeping in the red guest room." She was speaking reassuringly and stood to walk that way so he could see for himself. Peeking in on the sleeping girl woke her of course. Hermione still would have been alerted if someone entered her sleeping space and wasn't surprised Amanda reacted. The small smile and arm flung over her face did surprise her and she grinned at Theo as they quietly made their way back to the kitchen.

"Explain everything, please" the please was clearly tacked on so she didn't deride him for ordering her around but she appreciated it none the less. It took an hour to explain what had happened and her thoughts on it. Theo looked proud when she told him about Carrow and they grinned at each other. Hermione knew he would feel that way, she had told him her own story and he had told her his mother's. Claire Nott nee Selwyn had not fought back against her oppressor and left her son with him when she gave up and took her own life.

"What should we do? You said she could stay here but I have room at my flat. I want to be here when she wakes up." It was the first time she had seen happiness on his face for himself, he displayed it for her and made jokes but usually he reached for none for himself. Hermione smiled at the man who had quickly become a friend.

"Both of you will stay here, why else did you decorate the larger guest suite as the Slytherin common room?" Her smile was wry as she dared him to deny what he had done with the creative license she had given him over the lower guest floor.

Without Theo's influence she wouldn't have this huge house with a potions lab and greenhouse. Neither of them were as talented as Neville at Herbology but Theo was much better than she was. Neville had blurted that out and then tried to prevent the rage he thought would come from his fellow lion. None did, just the complacent smile to see two talented young men working and planning together.

When she had gone to Gringotts after the war it was with significant apprehension. A meeting with the upper level human employees was followed by one with goblins and there she learned that while they had been on the run and even before people had been making plans and writing wills. In hindsight it made perfect sense but when she was told by a wrinkly goblin named Scythetooth that her portions of the repair had been taken from her vault. Several people including Sirius had left substantial amounts of gold to her in case of their demise, even Fred had left her WWW stock. What this meant was that she had significant holdings in gold and property, this was not important at the apex of her despondency. Merely a way for her to go back to school and pay for her housing and education, then some of the projects and programs she took on. Theo was appalled and what was more striking to Hermione, disappointed. He had clearly expected more of the brilliant Gryffindor, money not managed was a resource wasted and he had been raised to amass and manage wealth for powers sake.

Whatever the initial reason for the knowledge Theo immediately began to advise and then manage her assets. One lecture about the waste of not buying property but renting and how it was ridiculous not to live in a house that meets your needs when you have the resources convinced her. Whatever you think Theo, that's what she had said and this was where she had ended up.

Initially he had resisted being paid for his work of managing the admittedly large investment portfolio that he had set up but a turn of the tables solved that. A vault with money going in and just sitting there was an affront to his own teachings. Quickly he bought a flat at her verbal prodding about investing, so it had backfired a bit. She had enjoyed having a roommate while he was here working on the house and making the magical contractors. He came nearly everyday as the lab he had set up was so good there was no point in using the decent apartment sized one at his place.

Potions and spell development were the lab and workrooms main uses while the library contained their ongoing history and general research projects. Some were individual and some they worked on together. Harry had taken part in some discussions as well as Neville. George had begun coming around after a dinner invite from Hermione ended up being disrupted by the Slytherin entering Hermione's house yelling about a scroll he had sourced for the vanishing potion they were working on. Immediately George had been interested and he had stopped by several times, seeming to enjoy the intellectual stimulation and quickly he realized they would talk shop with him as well. Theo often exhorting George to think of it as more than a shop, the first bastion of his empire. It was good for all of them, public still was not an enjoyable place to have conversations or meet without private reservations in any numbers.

Sitting beside Theo in the kitchen while they both thought their own thoughts she let one that had been gaining strength come out of her mouth.

"Let's build the first bastion of an empire, our empire." Hermione was not being facetious in any way and for a moment Theo just looked thoughtful. Then her lip twitched as she recognized the outlandish and dramatic words she had used. For a moment Theo kept his face straight and then when she let out a giggle and blushed hotly, he couldn't help it and laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

They hadn't talked about her grandiose statement of building an empire and had went to bed quickly after that. Theo had not fallen asleep easily even though his cousin was just down the hall and he knew he was safe here. At first the thought had made him smile, Hermione was not usually so fanciful and rarely spoke with such clarity if it was only a musing thought. Her words had come out clearly and had it been in a work situation he was realizing he would have taken it as something already clarified and decided on in her mind. So she had been thinking about it and had meant it, the idea anyways. This country house was no fortress even if it had a small turret from the library.

A bastion, an empire, security and control. Maybe that's where it had come from. The more he learned of Hermione Granger the more complex and layered she became. Her mind had always held his respect but her values were becoming clearer as these months had passed. In their first meeting he had blurted out that statement about studying for the NEWT exams but in that moment, speaking to her, he was so grateful that study and intellect were something he could fight to keep in that frozen tower. Things were better in the prison and he knew they were much better for the several floors containing the younger prisoners. It had been a shock after being moved from house arrest to the prison following his trial. So many Death Eaters and other criminals had been in Azkaban that Theo knew enough to have a healthy dread of the place and what it would do to him. It had been cold and the feeling of dull helplessness had permeated the whole stone pillar, but it had not been as bad as it was. Clearly he could feel the ambient heating charms that didn't make it warm but did prevent him from freezing. There was a cot and a blanket. The cell seemed quite clean really and there was no real smell of decay, only overpowering damp stone.

Then it was showers regularly and some freedom of speech between the four in each cell group. He seen others but it was only his group of four that could speak to each other for stretches of an hour at a time. It was the books and folders of the written NEWT study materials that came and went every week that eventually alerted him to the fact that someone planned for them to get out and perhaps even need the NEWT scores. They could do no magic and brew no potions but they could study and complete the written portions so that's what they did. Even stretching it out, unsure it would be replaced by something else, couldn't stop him from finishing it in six months. He waited, the first of his cell block to have finished, with decreasing hope for more mental exercise for a week, then a list of study choices and reading material came. That night he was relieved for the charms preventing the others from hearing him weep quietly.

From the basic NEWTs he had planned on originally he moved into completing the rest available and for the first time took muggle studies. He was quite sure this was not the basic Hogwarts curriculum and was definitely not for young children. It was basically an encyclopedia set and work sheets to go with it. This took Theo much longer and left him asking the other three in their block questions about the muggle world that none of them knew the answers too. When his parole date came up and they asked him what he was going to do he first didn't reply with any substance until it became clear to him they wanted to know something or at least put it down on the form before letting him out. So he had spoken about some of the muggle things he wanted to see and learn more about. Two of them looked puzzled as he spoke about museums and seeing a computer but one of them grinned at him understandingly.

That's what he had done before meeting Hermione in the Leaky Cauldron that night, gone to the Natural History Museum for the second time in the six days he had been released. A small motel flat had been recommended if he wanted to stay in the muggle world and a pamphlet explaining the basics for getting around. One look had been enough for Hermione and the next week when she had convinced him to show her where he was staying they had left the dark motel with his duffel bag and he had been her roommate for a two months.

Once he had access to her finances and estate he quickly figured out who had been financing and organizing the inmate programs at Azkaban and that had been a confrontation. He was embarrassed that he had spoken about what studying meant to him in prison and she had said nothing. Her response that she would have been content if no one knew floored him. Credit or the high ground was not her motive, 'if I had been born a Nott it would have been me in there Theo and damn it I hope someone would have fed my mind'. Things began to change then for Theo and between them after he calmed down and realized what that meant. She just wanted to help, to treat others as she thought they should be, fairly. It was a new and foreign kind of person for Theo to deal with, it took some getting used to.

This morning as he stood around the corner and listened to his cousin and his friend converse freely and laugh occasionally he felt the oppressive weight pushing around him retreating a little bit. Freedoms had been few and far between for as long as he could remember, he was sure his cousins life was similar. School seemed like an escape until he realized each reported home and a few incidents made it plain that Slytherin house was no safer than home. The long reach of their seemingly omnipotent parents meant the cage was still there, just furnished differently.

In this moment he was sure that he understood what Hermione had meant last night. They needed a bastion, as a beginning, to the empire that each could be safe in. Where no one could touch them and where they could be sure that it was their wishes and needs that were meant. His lips quirked as the girls conversation turned to house elves.

"Hermione, I can tell that Milly has been here! She made the bed. Only she fluffs pillows with that rose gold, so why can't my Sunny come here too?"

"I didn't let Milly come here, she just did." Hermione replied in an affronted voice.

"I asked her to come here, I just didn't ask you if she could Mione." Theo broke into the conversation with a sideways glance as he walked past his cousin, surreptitiously trying to look her over. She looked a bit odd in Hermione's muggle yoga pants and not her pureblood robes but her eyes seemed bright and though she was pale and thin it was not skeletal.

"I'll leave you to talk." She squeezed Amanda's shoulder and kissed Theo on the cheek as she left the kitchen and headed up to her room.

"Perhaps you could explain that girl and why we are here, why she wants us here. It's not your sexual prowess, she has assured me." Amanda began with less hardness and suspicion in her tone than Theo might have expected.

"Well a few days after I got out I was sitting in the Leaky. Alone of course. Nursing a firewhiskey and feeling almost nothing. Then she sat next to me, ordered me dinner, and started talking. Just as if there was no Merlin be damned reason that she shouldn't have done that. After the first few times we got together I mentioned the damage I was doing to her reputation. It was all over the Prophet and people were beginning to snub her in public. She went all Gryffindor and refused to change herself to suit strangers whims." Theo was looking down as he spoke, remembering how difficult it was to watch people's reactions to her become tinged with suspicion. The slight shoulder nudge made him meet her eyes. Understanding was clear in them, they both knew how it was if you stepped out of line in the conservative Wizarding world.

"Anyways she wouldn't stop seeing me though we did lessen our trips into Diagon, started mail ordering our supplies and a few allies came out of the crowds and started making suggestions of others who weren't so judgmental. We were lucky that Potter didn't rant about her in public the way Weasley did so that helped. They are still pretty close though they don't see each other as often as before me I think. We work together and hang out together." He finished with a shrug and looked up to see Amanda peering at him pensively.

"Do you love her?" This was asked quietly.

"Yes, but not like that. It would have been enough for me to happily marry her, but it's not enough for her. Love and passion are what she wants, it's what she deserves too really." Theo replied. He had spent so much time thinking about this. Wanting her warm and open smiles everyday. He could have them he realized, didn't need to have sex with her to feel close or to trust her. Hermione had told him in a litany all the things he deserved in a partner, he was going to hold out and see if he could find what she thought he deserved. Now looking at Amanda he was sure Hermione was right, each of them deserved to be loved wholly for the broken people they were and the repaired people they were trying to be.

"I see. Well she wants me to stay here and I didn't have a reason to say no but told her I'd talk to you first." Amanda was looking down again and Theo knew the real question was coming. He had been thinking about it often and Merlin knew he had heard Marcus talk about her in the times of communication they were allowed.

"Did you see him?" The words were quiet and full of trepidation.

"He was in my block. Flint is okay, talked about you all the damn time but he is okay. Even redid his dismal NEWTs, probably did better without you distracting him." Theo spoke in as light a tone of voice as he could. Trying to convey that Flint really was okay and that even if he hadn't said to Theo that he loved his cousin it was clear as day. The other guys used to roll their eyes but couldn't begrudge him his verbal litany of worry and hope.

Amanda broke down sobbing almost immediately and didn't stop. She was sitting sprawled over the kitchen island and shaking with heart rending sobs. For minutes Theo tried to calm her than gave up and ran to the stairs.

"Hermione!" He bellowed up the stairs then shook his head.

"Milly! Get Hermione and bring her to Amanda." A nod and the house elf disappeared as quickly as she had appeared in front of him.

"What- oh Amanda. What's wrong? Theo what did you do?!" Hermione sounded panicked and Amanda couldn't get any words out.

"Milly could you get us a calming draught? It's okay. I'm sure it will be okay. Thank you Milly, you are such a help. Drink this. That's right. Now just wait and calm down. I will be right back, in just a minute or two. If you haven't noticed I am in a towel. Okay right back." The look on her face as she stomped past him soaked and glaring daggers made him want to chuckle but he merely surveyed her and raised an eyebrow. That got him a rude hand gesture and he couldn't help but laugh lowly.

He was looking out the window when she came down and neither spoke. She did tousle his hair on the way past and he walked back to the swing door separating the hall foyer from the kitchen.

"Now what did Theo say to upset you so much? Flint? Marcus Flint? Oh so you are the girl then? I tutored him, no one knew of course but I just couldn't let him struggle alone in the library all hours. He stomped and huffed, couldn't ignore the brute. He was the first person to tell me that my hair was an asset. He told me it made me different from other girls and one day I'd be glad. So you are her. He used to talk about the girls wicked wand skills and how he loved to watch her read. He was in Theo's block? Well that's good and of course we will find out when he is due for release." Hermione was speaking normally and Amanda must be mumbling into her hands or something as it sounded like the younger girl was talking to herself. His heart clutched and he couldn't hear anything once he heard Hermione's next response. It was a fierce whisper and he too knew that she had been right in her thoughts about a bastion, a citadel that no one could enter without leave and no one would dare to lay siege too.

"It doesn't matter Amanda, what people will say or do. This is our house. This our home and no one can take it from us. Here we will do what we want to without judgement or shame. No! Listen to me! Listen! We will make jobs and find ways. You don't believe me? Did you think Harry would win? Well no one else did either, anything can be done. This is easier than taking down Voldemort. All we need is a bastion to start with and already we are halfway there, this place is the most secure location we could make it. So we need to plan then, a plan to be self sufficient and secure. Theo!" The ringing tones in the sentence about a plan made Theo grin and he headed into the room containing the two people he could protect right now, it was a start.


	4. Chapter 4

Three sets of eyes were looking directly at him. It was impossible to look them all in the eye at once, so he settled for Hermione. Harry was surprised at the odd mix of professionalism and determination that was present in his best friends demeanour. The invitation had been separate from the normal more personal letter she had sent him the day prior and had been worded differently as well.

If he was willing to speak to them, she would promise no infringing on his oaths to the Auror Corps or their friendship. He had sent a positive reply, after his owl came back from delivering the response to Hermione's personal letter to him. It wasn't until about an hour before this meeting that he really began to think of what she could want and if there was more than Theo and her to the 'them'.

Selwyn, Harry remembered the girl being a year ahead in school and quite striking. A Slytherin so he hadn't paid her too much mind but she had been a substitute on the quidditch team for a season or two. She had also been in Azkaban, one of those imprisoned under the blanket Dark Mark sentencing. From the introduction when they first sat down at the conference table in a room that must be designated for this he now knew she was Nott's cousin and he had been told not to call her Carrow, ever.

"Now Harry, I am sure you are wondering why I have asked for this meeting, in this way. Basically we want to offer you a deal, one that we are sure other Aurors have had with groups or individuals. There is an area we need information on and in return we will supply you with consulting and relevant information. This is to be a private deal between our organization and you. Here is the contract we have drawn up that explains how or why others might be involved and the information useful to us now. Eventually this will not be relevant and there is a clause covering that as well."

For a moment Harry just blinked at the poised and straightforward young woman in front of him, startled his best friend of 10 years could speak so formally to him. Then he decided that while his brain was starting to move through the information in that statement he could skim the contract. He would need a lawyer to sort this out, the were clauses, conditions to obligations, definitions, and endgame provisions. From his more thorough skim of what he could completely understand and an assumption Hermione was not part of a plan to somehow take him down he came to a vague understanding. They wanted to know what he could tell them about the Parole Program and Azkaban conditions.

As he kept going there were clauses where it was understood for security purposes he wouldn't be able to tell them things and the reverse to where it was physically or emotionally detrimental for one of them to disclose information to him. As he read something became more clear than the legal jargon and it was a question. Several questions really. He composed his thoughts before looking up. All three faces were inscrutable, even Hermione had a mask on that showed little. Impressive.

"What is your end goal?" Hermione blinked at him and the others exchanged a glance then looked to the curly haired witch. At this her mask faltered and Harry could see she wasn't sure how to tell him, or perhaps how much to tell him.

Hermione being involved made this almost a forgone conclusion. There was no doubt in his mind that she would die before betraying him or endangering his career. Well at least she would tell him straight out that's what she was doing if she needed to for a purpose.

For instance about a month ago in their regular correspondence she had asked if he had a lawyer and when he replied he didn't, why would he? She requested an in person coffee and gently explained that as Head of House Potter he really needed to do better. In addition to the papers and folders of information on Head of House duties and privileges she also gave him a book, no surprise. A thick tome that touched his heart as no book since the photo album Hagrid gave him had. A complete to current known Potter Family History with the publishers information for additions to the master which she had organized to be housed in their rare manuscripts archive.

Perhaps it was plans fermenting in her mind that had prompted the lawyer discussion or perhaps it was the influence of Theodore Nott, who was also Head of House after his father's death in the Final Battle. The precise reason was of little consequence, as the results changed his life. Not dramatically but in awareness and vulnerability. That day she had spoken only very briefly of the personal reasons he might want one, probably so he wouldn't get embarrassed or turned off the idea. What had come out of it though were several meetings with more scheduled a him being busier and he began to learn about what it meant to be Head of House, and many things to be wary of, witches included. It put a new spin on Ginny and his on again of again relationship.

Hermione speaking interrupted the mental list of times Hermione had influenced him for the better and he had only made it back about three years before Nott's voice broke into his litany.

"Recently Hermione brought it to my attention that we need security. For each of us sitting here but also for those that don't have it in the current system. Many of us are orphans, have undesirable parentage to some section of society, or just have some damage from the war and its effects." With that he broke off and then looked at the women in the room. Hermione nodded and Selwyn shrugged slightly. Notts shoulders dropped and so did at least some of his Slytherin mask.

"Look Potter, the three of us have no one, hell even you could be counted as alone. In a position where if societies temper or scandal shifted the land you could be vulnerable. We are going to build an empire, Hermione's term, for ourselves. Not to take over anything but to keep us in the position of always having the power to make choices. That's the end goal." Nott spoke seriously and Selwyn shivered a little but looked defiant and stern.

He met Hermione's eyes and could see the same steel in them as when she learned of house elf abuse. It wasn't the concept of house elves that upset her, she had explained the concept of symbiotic relationships in nature and more so in magic. It was the one sided relationship. Between some wizards and their elves. It hadn't turned out to be slavery as she had wrathfully decided that summer after meeting Winky, but it was just as terrible. Disrespect of the elves contribution to the health of magic in Wizarding Britain. She couldn't prove that in Hogwarts but had proven it to his satisfaction in the years since. This was similar in tenor, they had spoken of the stealth attempt to remove rituals and parts of history. The danger of removing parts of the history and culture of Wizarding Britain. As children raised in the muggle world it was terrible to think that instead of education on this world it was trending towards erasing it in favour of a new modern hybrid world. Hermione had brought it to his attention and as usual any time she planted a seed of something to look for or a puzzle his problem solving mind took it and let it grow in the background until another piece of information could be added to the specific growing mental file.

Citadel Inc. was mentioned in the contract and he was quite sure that name was explained by the reference to an empire. There was a part that he thought meant he would have to amend the contract to include access to others that were employed within the purview of Citadel Inc., so they planned to bring others into the fold. The parolees perhaps and others they counted as vulnerable.

Harry shouldn't have been surprised by the smile on Hermione's face. Clearly she could tell from his posture and expression there was nothing he opposed in this venture. Of course he would support Hermione in whatever she decided to do and depending on the scope this it could be broad enough to feed her various voracious appetites.

"Can we have dinner now? You will be disappointed in me and give me one of your looks if I sign it before taking it to the lawyer you suggested I hire and advised I used in a similar example you gave." He was grinning with her and Selwyn snickered quietly while Nott rolled his eyes and looked slightly incredulous.

"Does she ever stop surprising you with her advanced planning Potter?" Nott quipped.

"Hasn't yet, didn't see that lawyer intervention leading to this and am not sure which came first. Decided it didn't matter in these situations years ago." For the first time Harry could recall he was sharing amusement with Theodore Nott. It was nice, maybe Hermione was right.

Is consulting what you have decided to call your swotty habit?" Harry asked as they finished dinner and an elf that had been introduced as Sunny, by a resigned looking Hermione, set out coffee mugs and a decanter.

It was a tradition of Helen and Matthew Granger to have coffee and chat after dinner and Hermione had kept it as a reminder of her parents. She had only a year after their memories were restored before they were killed in a traffic accident. Harry enjoyed partaking in it and fondly remembered the visits he had shared with them.

"Which swotty habit exactly?" Amanda, she had insisted he call her that when dinner started, sniped from the seat across from him. They all laughed and it was clear that each accepter Hermione had many habits that could be termed as such.

"It was Amanda that suggested we could consult with companies and individuals of our choice. Take on clients we have already decided we want to work with and can help us achieve our goals. It hadn't occurred to me we could offer companies or organizations our services instead of having them try and pitch it to us. Kind of changed the playing field for me. As you know several people and businesses have approached me over the years but there weren't many contracts offered that I actually wanted to participate in. You know this from my whining about it then though. What do you think?" Hermione's excited voice made him smile gently.

Right after the war he had been so pent up and simultaneously despondent that for about a month Hermione shielded him from almost everything. Any sign he couldn't handle a request or topic and she made excuses our outright defended his right to time and space after all he had been through. He had been staying at The Burrow because Molly insisted and for days afterward he couldn't really process any of what had happened. Under heavy wards they had their first real private conversation in what felt like forever. Maybe since Ron had come back during the hunt. Harry had been brusk and hadn't shared anything really until she blew up and screamed at him.

Did he think she would put up with this? maybe everyone else was awed by his glory but she didn't survive a war with him to watch him fade in front of her. That had led to him screaming his outrage at her, how dare she demand anything else from him? She was wrathful in her heartbreak that he could think she didn't love him and only want to know how he truly was. That conversation changed a lot in that immediate time but also in the longer term. His feelings of captivity and inability to let himself feel in that busy but broken home were the most immediate issues. Grimmauld Place has been her suggestion, so obvious in hindsight. Of course she had given him options, a cabin in the remote woods, a flat in muggle London, with her or alone. He hadn't thought for a moment she would let him fade from her life but she clearly expressed her feelings that he owed no one anything at all. She had spent a month in Grimmauld with him and things were much better.

Not what either considered good enough but both could vent and be freer with themselves in that old house and with each other. It had strained other relationships and had led to different paths than continued living with the Weasleys might have but they had all recovered, or close enough to function. After that month he had surprised her by insisting he went to Australia with her to find her parents. The process of recovering them took a couple weeks and their memories hadn't fully recovered before they were killed. They always knew who she was and more came back everyday but nearly twenty years of memories was just too much to come back quickly.

The ever present Bulgarian firewhisky was being enjoyed casually when their conversation about potions was interrupted by Hermione and Theo needing to make a note for tomorrow's brewing. Harry's request to see the lab led to them all traversing the main wing to the north wing which he had been in earlier for their official meeting. Down the stairs he wouldn't have known were there if Theo hadn't turned a corner and walked through what Harry had though was solid wall. Hermione grinned at him and pulled him through by the hand.

"One of our swotty sessions was centered around the hidden passages at Hogwarts and others like them." He grinned at her and enjoyed the playfulness of the moment as they both remembered the Marauders and their map.

It was huge, that was his first thought as he looked around the complex of rooms. There were several openings from the entrance he was standing in and as Theo headed to a corner it was clear, moving walls and walkways. Amanda too looked curious and told him she had only been down her twice. Hermione summoned a walkway with wandless gestures and as it arranged itself into a gangway from them in the direction Theo had moved in Harry was impressed.

"So have you guys been experimenting with your discoveries here or studying things you need?" He asked, still marvelling at the magic that must be needed to create and power this labyrinth.

"Both. Well it's gone both ways. Hiding the entrance to the lab led to the study of walls and what people had done to and with them. That led to our system for being able to separate or regulate different sized rooms for different potions requirements. And to contain any mishaps. The walkways were something we crafted as a challenge a few weeks ago after Milly couldn't get to us and that aided issues. We warded this against any living thing other than the two of us. Milly tried to get through, we hadn't eaten lunch, and the reaction of the wars stopping her set off several potions in progress." There was a wry grin at the elf's reason and a wince at the remembered explosions.

"These are our solution and the first of our own spelled creation, together anyways. So the elves can come into the foyer and use a walkway to get to us if needed and we set up an intercom too. That one will be patented as soon as we can get the paperwork set up. How is work? And Ginny?" They chatted as they reached Nott and then while they explored this lab.

He spoke a little about Ginny and told her he wanted to have a coffee somewhere secure and talk to her about it. Work was good mostly. The active Auror part anyways. A shared glance contained much understanding about the people who tried to make Harry more than an Auror at the Ministry. When he asked about the potion he was floored. This was an experimental variation in polyjuice. It didn't turn you into a copy of another but used your own body mass in different ways. You couldn't be a specific person with their hair but the potion would use the DNA from a hair to give you a blend between them and yourself. The use time of four hours staggered him, they freely admitted it wasn't there yet but that was what the arithmancy and their understanding indicated.

As he spun into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place Harry's mind was full of the possibilities. The three of them had ideas and plans. Many of them. Some would end up benefiting society if he understood them correctly. Some were ancient traditions and rituals that they were researching to understand, some muggle technology or innovations that they would like to try and harness or imitate, and some were their own ideas and passions. Amanda had listed some of the more esoteric files she had seen in their research cavern, as she called it. One had been The Veil. His eyes had shot to Hermione's and she had surely seen the flash of hope. Her understanding smile and small head shake told him that at least currently they didn't have the answer for that particular riddle. Still, he wondered if there was a way he could be involved, at least a little bit, it sounded exciting.


	5. Chapter 5

"George? Is that you?" Hermione asked into the silence and thought it probably was via process of elimination and she wasn't surprised if it was him. Wednesday nights had always been shop night for the twins. The books and dinner then a whiskey and maybe a fly. So he didn't want to be home tonight and not with his family either. They often spent a Wednesday evening together.

"Of course it's me. It's Wednesday isn't it? Better not have made plans woman, heartless." His voice was only moments ahead of him and she turned to smile at him.

"Just the usual? We could do the books if you want. Or have brunch and get the others to do their part tomorrow." It was a real offer and he considered it while he leaned against the door frame.

"No books. I've been thinking all day and it's not of the useful variant." With that interesting prelude, she gestured him into her library domain and watched him settle into the huge floor pillow in the corner. All of them used it sometimes and for long sessions it was duplicated so the floor nearly disappeared.

"Do share. I love hearing that others do this." It was true and his smile was soft when they met eyes. Fred used to come and find her sometimes, to have a think about something. George did it now and she wished they could have him back.

"This has been good for you." George said it and waved his hand around the book laden room as if the library was what he meant but she knew that wasn't exactly it.

Knew what he meant too, Theo and her hadn't hidden their brokenness from each other and George's Harry was dead. The person, his person, he was gone and it had been devastating. In a way that only her research on twin deaths in the muggle world had begun to explain. The Fred in the mirror and not at his family table. Years had gone past and things were better but he wasn't whole. Not even repaired and she didn't expect him to be, knew he might never be. That had been the real thing that elevated their friendship, that she didn't expect or even really hope George would be one day.

"It's been good for all of us I think. You certainly." Was her reply and she settled sideways in her chair and spun it to face him fully. His thoughtful nod told her he didn't disagree but then he met her eyes and she internally sat up straight.

"Harry too." This man was a Gryffindor and a Weasley twin, what wasn't he saying and why. She was so preoccupied with this that his bare second of pause caught her off guard.

"He's been asking questions and spending his time differently. Ginny came to ask me if I knew why you had made him get a lawyer and if his decision to go into investigation instead of administration had anything to do with you." What should she say to that. Why didn't Ginny just ask Harry, and she was losing patience with this. Harry was done, she thought so anyways and their twice a week dates weren't cutting it for Ginny. It hadn't been for a long time but she didn't see the pretty redhead that often, and hadn't for yearsnow.

"I did encourage Harry to get a lawyer. It's smart and he didn't know he needed one until he got one. His decision about work is his own, I'm not surprised though." The truth and nothing else was what she decided on and she knew George knew this, or thought he did anyways.

"I know. That's what I told her and then pointed out that I have a lawyer. It's what it made me think about. More of your comments and even some of the table talk here." All she did was wait and he grinned at her clear want of his thoughts or whatever.

"You told me ages ago to think about hiring out and even once mentioned taking on an apprentice, but from outside of the UK." All she could do was nod. What he did was unique but he could do way more if he had help. The way they did things was different and she loved working with them for that reason. She might have apprenticed if it weren't for all the reasons he needed one.

"I've been thinking about that and I don't know how to say what I mean." This wasn't usual and she raised a brow at him and he nodded his understanding.

"Is there a name for what you want to do?" He asked her and she didn't know how to answer.

"You mean, like the things about our economy?" He nodded at her tentative question but his hand waggle said that wasn't quite it.

"I want to know." Was what he said into the silence.

"Like sit at the table too?" She asked him and his nod and serious eyes said what that was what he had meant the whole time.

"You've got the shop." She said and his eyes met hers differently.

"I love it and am not giving it up. I can do other things too, meet some more people." Now she understood and smiled her agreement, the lack of defensiveness and the small bit of fire she could see in George's eyes said he really was fine.

"It's been interesting. There haven't been all that many released or that I didn't know before but it's so strange. How many they managed to throw in there, and with so few actual charges. It's been years and only now is there any chance at building bridges." The Ministry had taken a hard line, as if it were payment to those who won. A single statement of being at an incident, even failure to report and collusion. They used everything they could and most of these people never should have gone in there, not for years anyways. It was insane and this was some of that too.

"I'll fit right in. We're all strange in some way. Intense maybe." Was his response and her stomach growled.

"Go get a burger?" She asked him and he was off the cushion and gallantly offering his arm to her.

"It took intensity. I think we all went through crap too. Like that's a link. We actually understand how bad things could be and more of what actually happened. The people sitting judgement weren't there." These were the words that came out and as usual when speaking to George, it was without any real filter or fear of offense being taken.

"Tell me what you are cooking up until we are back here and fed." She imperiously demanded as they linked hands to apparate into muggle London.

"I will if you tell me something interesting you've been doing." It was offered as if she might refuse and as soon as they were stable from their travels, she volunteered it first.

"I've been trying to find the half bloods. Seeing if could find anyone that was in the muggle world. Coming back to the muggle world first maybe. Or having been there for years now but not venturing back into Wizarding Britain." This was interesting enough to George that he told her he didn't want to talk about what he was already doing.

"I'm sure it's." She began to protest and he held a hand up. They ordered and she marveled at the amount he could and would eat. It was a Weasley trait, to be able to pack it away.

"How about something only those with magic could see." He suggested and the interest in his eyes was enough to let her divert from the back and forth sharing plan.

"That said something you mean?" She asked with her own interest and he nodded.

"What could we say?" This hadn't occurred to her and she had no idea what she would say. Both people she had found, it was different and she basically just said the war was long over and if they wanted to be part of the magical world then they were welcome. All wands were needed. That sort of thing. Both had recognized her and been only somewhat defensive.

"I don't know. What do you want them to know?" George smiled at the waitress when she brought the first plates Hermione smiled at him. The almost totally normal behaviour and even the mild flirting with the waitress. She thought about this while they got themselves sorted out and then watched him bite into the fish burger and sigh with satisfaction.

"Well, just that. Just that they can come back. Or come if this is the first time. Like there is no visitors centre with pamphlets explaining even the changes that have been made since the war was over. Amnesty and even the financial part. Like I met a woman, about forty years old, and she was from Belgium but her husband was English. So they lived here until the first Azkaban breakout. Then they went to Belgium and stayed with her family. Her husband died while she was there but her kids wanted to live in England. They go to Beauxbatons because their first year was ninety seven. So they go to school there but wanted to live in England and so she moved back and they live in Sussex. Mrs Chambers, that's her name. She became a secretary for a muggle realtor and that's what she's been doing." George was consuming food but listening with rapt attention and he seemed surprised.

"How did you find her?" Hermione ate a few bites and he racked on questions. The kids, did they want to go to school in France? Could they transfer, did the woman have enough to be raising two young magical kids on her own and she waited for him to pause and put more in his mouth than a single French fry before trying to answer.

"I was talking to Pearson, Theo and I went to see him about the property restrictions. I can't believe that's been shunted to the records department. I asked if he had found any magicals, or had any come in. That had been curious or needed help. I was asking about kids and so he sized me up and then asked me why I wanted to know. Anyways he told me that if I was in the market for a muggle flat I should visit that office." She trailed off and got an understanding look before it changed and she waited to see if George would ask whatever he was thinking.

"Is this what you want to do Granger? It's pretty big already and there are more people involved than you had anticipated even two months ago." Hermione swallowed her last bite of salad and then wiped her face and sat further back.

"I don't know what I anticipated would happen. It was finding Amanda for Theo first." She paused, thinking of that day and then their conversations after.

"I didn't know until then that others felt the same flayed open vulnerability that I do. I guess I thought it was just trauma or I was more fucked up than those around me." She was speaking quietly and ignored George's frown but didn't keep going when he held up his hand.

"That you could feel, could accept that I felt things, it is so freeing. I could talk to Harry and even Lee about things sometimes because you did with me. Don't underestimate it." There was none of the usual good humour on George's face and she only nodded solemnly and blinked back her instinctive tears. It was hard. His hand gesture said keep going and she swallowed once more to make sure it didn't feel like she had something lodged in there.

"It's been, we are winning George." Hermione couldn't make more words come out in the moment. The blue eyes across from her were blazing at her and eventually she got a nod. Both of them thinking of the people they had collected, one by one. Brought to her home by one of them and then cautiously questioned to see if they needed help or wanted to help or just wanted a job. It was a lot and also very individual.

"I love to win." He said and she nodded her agreement. That was true and both of them stood silently and headed for the door after paying.

"There will be a chair for you." She said as they reached for each other to apparate and he didn't answer because Harry was waiting for both of them and asking if Neville could come, their fellow Lion still didn't feel comfortable just dropping in if she wasn't actually here regardless of how many people said it was fine.

**Author's note: this story is written a ways in but it is choppy. It flips viewpoints as people are released or involved. Let me know what you guys think as it goes along. I've decided to just post what I have and I assume you would rather read it, even if l am not %100 happy with the flow than have it live in my google drive indefinitely. Hope you are all well. Harry Potter belongs to JKR of course etc. **

**-Maybenotahufflepuff **


End file.
